James Allison reveals the discussion with the race direction
Toto Wolff had sent an email to Michael Masi during the race interruption of the British Grand Prix.
During the British Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen made contact. The collision between the two men forced the Dutchman to stop his race much earlier than expected and to see his lead in the championship melt away like snow in the sun. Following the incident, the Safety Car was deployed, before the red flag was shown.
During the race interruption, Red Bull and Mercedes took turns having radio conversations with the race director, Michael Masi. However, one of the messages caught everyone’s attention. During the exchanges, Toto Wolff, the executive director of Mercedes, informed the Australian that he had sent him an email.
On social media, many trolls have been posted regarding the content of this email. Today, we now know what Toto Wolff sent to Michael Masi and much to the dismay of the twittos, it is not a drawing made on editing software or such.
According to Mercedes’ technical director, James Allison, this email contained information regarding the F1 overtaking rules because, according to the German team, Hamilton was within his rights.
We were worried after the incident and before the restart to make sure that the stewards had read and were following the FIA’s internal guidelines for stewards on the rights and wrongs of overtaking. Because as far as we’re concerned… Lewis’ maneuver was completely in line with the FIA’s overtaking guide. », he states on the team’s YouTube channel.
If you are inside the turn, if you are overtaking inside the turn, then the guidelines require you to be substantially alongside. It is not necessary to be ahead, you need to be substantially alongside when you reach the turn. Lewis was undoubtedly substantially alongside. He had his front axle well beyond the middle of Verstappen’s car. », he continued.
« (Also,) you must be able to take the turn. Taking the turn means staying on the track and not losing control of the car. These are the things you must meet. If you can take the turn, if you are substantially alongside the other car, then the turn belongs to you… you do not have to give up your position, you do not have to back off, and the other car has the duty to avoid hitting you.
Lewis Hamilton’s maneuver earned him a 10-second penalty, which James Allison considers harsh, but that didn’t stop the British driver from winning for the 99th time in his career, with two more similar overtakes (without accidents) in the same corner later in the race.
